The 2019 Lilly Awards
Sunday, May 19th, 2019 at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City.
The 10th Annual Lilly Awards took place on May 19th, at The Minetta Lane Theatre. The show was hosted by Mia Barron and Jenn Colella. Presenters included George C. Wolfe, Laurie Metcalf, Annie MacRae, Jayne Houdyshell, Connie Congdon, and Leigh Silverman. The Lilly Awards honored 11 award winners, including LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Glenda Jackson, Gretchen Cryer, Nancy Ford, and Julia Cho. The show also featured a special tribute to Elizabeth Swados was performed by Shaina Taub.
AWARD RECIPIENTS
The ''Badass Saint of Theatre'' Award
LaTanya Richardson Jackson
Lilly Award
Glenda Jackson
The ''Ace in the Hole'' Award
Jayne Houdyshell
Williamstown Theatre Festival Commission
Dawn Landes
The Stacey Mindich 'Go Write a Musical' Awards
Masi Asare
The “Thank God You Got Us All Started, and Then Kept Us Going'' Award
Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford
Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award
You-Shin Chen
Daryl Roth/Atlantic Theater Technical Apprentices
Jasmine Lesane
Taylor Lilly
NYWF Director's Apprenticeship
Victoria Davidjohn
Leah Ryan's FEWW Award
Eliana Pipes
The “Aubergine is a Fucking Masterpiece'' Award
Julia Cho
'The 'Because You've Deserved It For Ages and We've Been Planning This All Along'' Award
Constance Congdon
The Stacey Mindich ''Go Write a Play'' Award
Madeleine George
Miss Lilly
Oliver Butler
Photography by Emma Pratte
Maestra
by Georgia Stitt
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I had what I can actually call a life-changing experience two years ago when I was working as the music director for the Off-Broadway production of SWEET CHARITY. Mary-Mitchell Campbell was orchestrating the show, and our director, Leigh Silverman, asked us to hire an all-female band. It turned out to be REALLY hard. The contractors’ knowledge of female players was very limited. We were down to the wire and were literally googling “female guitarist, NYC” when a friend of a friend recommended someone. I called this woman at 7 am and asked if she could show up to sight-read for a band rehearsal that started in three hours. She scrambled to get a babysitter (of course), and as soon as she started playing, she had the job. Later, she said to me, “I’ve been trying to get into orchestra pits for years, but I just couldn’t get hired.”
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Read the rest of Georgia’s speech here.